League: Vagana thrilled with Kiwis recall

LONDON - Five years have elapsed since Joe Vagana last pulled on a Kiwis jersey for the 2000 World Cup final loss to the Kangaroos.

His Bradford teammates cannot comprehend how he has not added to the 25-test caps he accumulated before leaving Auckland.

Not that they offer much sympathy. Picking who is more likely than Vagana to get a Kiwis call up is a favourite sport at the club.

Vagana brushes off the jibes with good humour, but being continually snubbed by the New Zealand selectors for choosing to play in Britain rather than accept reduced terms at the resurrected New Zealand Warriors NRL franchise has clearly hurt the giant 124kg, 1.94m prop.

So it was with some surprise last week when, lying on a beach in Turkey pondering a third grand final triumph with Bradford, Vagana received a call from Kiwis official Peter Leitch asking him to play against England on Monday morning (NZ time) at Warrington.

"It feels like going back to school for the first day," Vagana said on the eve of joining the Kiwis.

"I'm a bit nervous, but obviously excited and happy. I got a bit of a shock.

"I was sitting on a beach in Turkey enjoying the sun and the next thing I got a phone call. At first I thought it was a prank but, once I realised who I was speaking to, I got a bit of a shock."

Vagana's day got better, too, when his childhood friend Willie Poching, who plays for Leeds, phoned shortly after Leitch to say he had also been called up for the match.

"Willie hasn't played for New Zealand at senior level, so it was a big buzz for him.

"We go back a long way. We are best friends and we played junior Kiwis together and now we get to play with each other in a senior Kiwis game."

That the pair will face England in a non-test match and not Great Britain in the Tri-Nations is neither here nor there for Vagana.

"That fact that you are putting on a black jersey again is a big buzz, whoever you play.

"I'm going to go to the game like a kid going to the candy shop. Pulling on the black jersey has always been a big deal for me and I'll just take this game for what it is.

"We have got some good front rowers at the moment and we had a good win over Great Britain last week and two good games against Australia, so I don't fancy my chances of breaking in. I'll just play this game and see how it goes.

"My kids know the haka now, they've been doing it when the test matches are on. It could be a bit of a buzz for them seeing the old man do it.

"They've never actually seen me play for New Zealand."

- NZPA